Fetal Circulation

This post is a little out of order but I thought I would talk about fetal circulation due to the fact that it was on our last test.
The fetal circulatory system works differently during pregnancy than it does after birth. During pregnancy, the fetus it attached to the placenta by the umbilical cord. The placenta is the organ that develops and implants in the uterus during pregnancy. Using the blood vessels of the umbilical cord the fetus is provided the necessary nutrition, oxygen and life support from the mother from the placenta. While these things are being moved in, there are other things making their way out of the fetus. Waste products and carbon dioxide are sent back through the umbilical cord and the placenta and moved into the mothers circulation to be released.
The blood from the mother enters the placenta and comes close to the fetal blood that has returned from the fetus to the placenta through the umbilical arteries. When the two circulations get closer in the placenta, the oxygen and nutrients such as sugar, proteins and fat molecules are able to move from maternal blood to fetal blood. While this is happening...carbon dioxide and waste products can move from the fetal blood to the maternal blood. After the fetal blood is nourished, it can return to the baby through the umbilical vein.
This vein goes to the liver and splits into three branches. One of these branches connects directly to the inferior vena cava. This branch allows the blood to reach the fetal heart and is then sent to the rest of the body.
After birth, and the umbilical cord is clamped from the placenta, the circulation changes after the baby is detached from the placenta. When the baby is removed from the placenta, the reservoir to the fetus, the baby's venous/resistance blood pressure rises. When the lungs are filled with air, the blood pressure in the lung arteries goes down.
Since the fetal lungs do not function to exchange gases and oxygenated blood is obtained from the mother, there are some important differences in the circulatory systems from adults and fetuses.